Appendix C: The NIDCD 2012-2016 Strategic Plan: The Process

In the fall of 2010, NIDCD’s Science Policy and Planning Branch (SPPB) began the process of rewriting the current NIDCD Strategic Plan for research, which was expiring in 2011. SPPB staff reviewed current and previous NIDCD Strategic Plans for Research, as well as those of other ICOs. Based on this review, SPPB implemented several initiatives in developing the new Plan:

1. Converted to a Five-Year Plan Rather Than a Three-Year Plan

To match the majority of the other NIH ICO’s Strategic Plans, to allow for more long-term goals, and to reduce the burden of staff time, SPPB extended the time period of the Plan to five-years to cover the period of 2012-2016. The five-year Plan is expected to encourage the achievements of scientific short- and medium-range projects (e.g., R01, R03, R21) as they move toward the long-range goals stated in the Plan.

2. Issued Request for Information (RFI)

On September 2, 2010, SPPB published a Request for Information (RFI) notice NOT-DC-10-001 in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The RFI provided an opportunity for the scientific and advocacy communities and members of the public to engage in the NIDCD strategic planning process at an early stage. On November 3, 2010, NIDCD published NOT-DC-11-002, “Notice of Extension for Request for Information: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) Strategic Plan Update.” NOT-DC-11-002 extended the original response date from November 5, 2010, to December 5, 2011.

In preparation for rewriting the NIDCD Strategic Plan, NIDCD used the RFI to seek information on four questions:

What are the most significant scientific discoveries in the communication sciences that have occurred in the past decade? (Please provide reference(s) to scientific journal article(s), if applicable)

What are the gaps in current research and training in the communication sciences?

What pressing needs of individuals with communication disorders can be helped with additional research?

What are the greatest challenges or barriers to progress in the communication sciences?

NIDCD received 38 comments during the RFI comment period. Two comments requested health information and were excluded from the list of 36 remaining comments.

Subsequently, the Chemical Senses and Voice, Speech, and Language Working Groups sent out the RFI questions again in January and February 2011, to scientific societies in which they held membership. As a result, NIDCD received 20 additional responses.

3. Convened Scientific Expert Working Groups

SPPB hosted separate working groups for each of the three main program areas (Hearing and Balance; Chemical Senses; Voice, Speech, and Language) in March 2011. To establish each working group, the relevant NIDCD program officers identified seven to ten outside scientific experts and invited them to serve on the working group. The rosters of each of the working groups are on pages 48-49. Co-chairs were also selected for each working group, as well as a current NDCD Advisory Council member to serve as Council Liaison. SPPB and other NIDCD staff served as resource persons before, during, and after the working group meetings. Prior to the meetings, working group participants received instructions (including RFI summaries, pre-writing assignment suggestions, and roster/contact information of working group members and NIDCD staff) along with an NIDCD grant portfolio analysis for their respective program area. The scientific experts spent time during the working group meetings identifying areas of outstanding opportunity and unmet need within their areas of expertise. Following the working group meetings, SPPB staff used workshop summaries to develop a first draft of the new Plan.

4. Presented to NDCD Advisory Council

NIDCD invited each of the Council Liaisons to present their working group’s recommendations at the May 2011 meeting of the NDCD. The NIDCD then incorporated the Council’s revisions into the draft Plan. At the September 2011 NDCD Advisory Council meeting, NIDCD staff presented a revised version of the draft Plan, received additional comments from Council members, and incorporated these revisions into the next draft.

5. Solicited Public Comments

The draft Plan was made available for a 30-day Public Comment Period on the NIDCD website in the fall of 2011. To announce the public comment period, the NIDCD published the Notice NOT-DC-12-001 in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts on October 21, 2011. The NIDCD also published a Notice in the Federal Register on October 27, 2011 .

NIDCD received 34 comments. Three comments were duplicates and one comment requested health information. These four were excluded from the list of 30 remaining comments.

6. Finalized and Posted the Plan on the NIDCD Website

Once appropriate Public Comments were incorporated into the draft approved by NIDCD staff, SPPB finalized the Plan and published it on the NIDCD website in early 2012.